


Won't You Be My Solid Ground

by sarcastic_fi



Series: Sway [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash, Rape Recovery, Rape/Non-con References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-03
Updated: 2012-05-03
Packaged: 2017-11-04 18:33:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/396923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarcastic_fi/pseuds/sarcastic_fi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to 'Return to Me What Other's Stole'. </p><p>Stiles deals with how the attack changed his life and Derek tries to help, in his own special way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Won't You Be My Solid Ground

**Author's Note:**

> Title once again taken from The Perisher's 'Sway'

“Scott...” Lydia drawled out, her finger tracing a pattern on the wall next to him as he stood outside the boys locker room at school. Scott looked around for Stiles, he seriously needed back up if he was going to be dealing with Lydia Martin in one of these moods. However his friend was nowhere in sight, probably hanging back waiting for the locker room to empty so he could change in peace. Ever since the incident Stiles had been different, oh he was still the sarcastic motor-mouth with ADD, but he notably behaved differently when there were other men around, except when Derek was nearby which Scott had to admit was a lot of the time lately.

“What do you want Lydia?” Scott asked.

She blinked seductively up at him and Scott wondered if she even knew she was doing it. “Well, I was a little bit curious why Derek Hale started hanging around with Stiles so much. I mean, did Stiles suddenly get cooler or something?” She asked, pouting and Scott figured that she did realise how much she did that, made every word and every expression into a sexual invitation.

“Stiles is cool,” Scott defended his friend. He admitted to himself that he was lying but he didn’t want Lydia to badmouth his best friend, and he definitely wouldn’t agree with her and risk hurting Stiles if he ever found out. It was bad enough he had made out with her, although he still blamed Peter Hale’s alpha influence for his behaviour that day. That or wolf-hormones. “Look, he and Derek are friends, okay. What’s the big deal?”

Lydia looked genuinely shocked. “Calm down, Scott, I was only curious. Stiles has been acting weird for the past few weeks, but when Derek is around he’s like his old self. I just noticed that today at Lacrosse practise Derek wasn’t there and when one of the team touched Stiles he jumped sky high. It was strange,” she said. Lydia had become good at noticing the strange since she had been bitten, especially since Derek had forbidden them to expressly tell Lydia, who’s memories of that day had been fuzzy at best, what had happened so she had been forced to work it out for herself. These days they pretty much considered her pack even though she wasn’t exactly a werewolf.

“He did? I’ll go speak to him,” Scott said, grabbing his bag and starting to go inside.

“Not that way,” Lydia sang out, “he’s over by the bleachers,” she pointed and Scott saw Stiles huddled down in the corner, his foot tapping a nervous pattern on the floor.

“Hey Stiles,” Scott greeted him, sitting down next to him. “Where’s Derek?”

“Derek? How would I know. The man has a life outside of high school, you know, grown up stuff like renovating that wreck he calls a house or polishing his car for the fiftieth time,” Stiles told him defensively.

“Yeah, but he always come to Lacrosse practise and our games,” Scott said, trying to figure out why Derek had abandoned Stiles when the teenager clearly still needed Derek’s support.

“Look I told him not to come,” Stiles said. “He can’t be here all the time, and... and I need some space,” Stiles couldn’t look more miserable if he had tried.

“Why. He cares about you Stiles, he wants to be here for you. Why are you pushing him away?” Scott asked, confused. He had been there the night that Derek came to comfort Stiles after he’d been attacked. He had heard the words they exchanged after Derek had ordered him out of his own damned bedroom and he knew that they were in love with each other, the kind of love that lasted, even if they didn’t say the words out loud. 

“Yeah, he wants to be here for me, he also wants a lot more and I can’t give it to him. It’s better this way, Scott, trust me,” Stiles said bitterly before walking off. Scott, at a loss, let him go.

*

Stiles felt cold as he walked away from Scott. It was a feeling he was fast becoming familiar with, cold and afraid. It wasn't like he believed that the monster that had hurt him was going to leap out of the bushes and grab him, he knew, intellectually, that the man who'd raped him was dead. Derek had killed him, murdered him, for Stiles.

Derek Hale. 

Now there was a man who Stiles did want to come out of the bushes and grab him. Not that if that did happen Stiles would be exactly receptive. It was strange though. Stiles never felt safe any more unless Derek was near. Derek, of all people. The werewolf who used to throw him against walls, bash his head into steering wheels and generally threaten his life with terrifying detail on a regular basis. Taking all this into consideration Stiles couldn't help but think there was something wrong with him. But it would hardly be the only thing, so he didn't ponder it too much.

What he did worry about was Derek. It must get on his nerves, having to babysit Stiles 24/7 just in case a strange man got within ten feet of him and he had a panic attack. For all of Stiles's joking he knew that Derek had a life outside of him, things to do people to see conversations to have about things other than how Stiles's latest counselling session went and if he'd taken his ADHD medication (because apparently going off your meds after a traumatic experience was the opposite of a good idea, or so the ER nurse had told him).

What Stiles worried the most about was what it all meant. Stiles wasn't afraid of Derek despite all the evidence against him (because if he hadn't been a murderer before, well he certainly was now), that Stiles missed him when he wasn't in visual site and dreamed about a future where Stiles wasn't afraid to let someone physically close. He worried even more about what it said about Derek that he would rather spend his days stalking Stiles to ward off any unnecessary physical contact with strangers than repair the pile of ashes that was his ancestral home. He knew, of course that what it equalled. 

2 + 2 = 4.

Stiles Loved Derek.

Derek was just protecting a weak pack member.

It hurt, maybe worse than getting raped.

*

“We have a problem,” Scott told Derek.

Derek grunted distractedly and continued to survey Stiles from afar. 

The boy, his boy, had been ignoring him, avoiding him, but that didn't mean that Derek had just abandoned his young mate. He'd been angry and hurt at first when 

Stiles insisted he stay away, especially when the reason he gave smelt to Derek like a lie. He hated it when Stiles lied to him.

“Are you listening to me? It's about Stiles!” Scott practically shouted.

He would have had Derek's full attention even if he had whispered.

“What about him?” He asked suspicipiously.

“He freaked out during Lacrosse today because you weren't there, man. He's still not over what happened. He still needs you, even if he tells other wise,” Scott said, and it was strangely unselfish and insightful, for Scott.

“I know,” Derek growled out.

“Then do something about it, because he won't,” Scott told him before leaving.

Derek went back to Stiles-watching.

*

It was almost a week later when Derek finally got Stiles alone.

There had been a pack meeting during which Scott brought up the concept of telling Lydia (again) and Allison shared with her the latest on the news from the hunters. When all official business was done people started to leave slowly, starting with Jackson. Eventually no one was left except Derek, who's house it was, and Stiles.

“You've been lying to me,” Derek said, his voice deep with emotions he generally kept locked inside.

Stiles startled. “not about anything important,” he rushed to assure the werewolf. Derek scented the air, Stiles believed he was telling the truth, but Derek knew he was lying to himself.

“I was there, at practise last week. I've been there for you ever since. It's okay to not want to be alone, Stiles,” Derek said.

“No it's not. It's not okay to always be afraid, to only feel safe if you're nearby. That's pathetic, and weak, and I hate it, okay?” Stiles blurted out.

“Stiles, I,” Derek paused, emotion thickening the air around them and he looked away from the boy, breathing in before meeting Stiles’ eyes once more. “Stiles. Getting raped is a horrific event, I’m not trying to tell you to get over it or just ignore it. I would never. But... but it doesn’t have to scar you. You don’t have to let it ruin the rest of your life,” he added gently.

Pain flashed into Stiles’ eyes and Derek almost flinched. It was still so fresh in Stiles’ mind, made even worse perhaps by the fact that it was to date his only sexual experience. “No,” Stiles whispered, “it doesn’t have to ruin your life. This wasn’t your fault, Derek, so if you’re sticking around out of some sense of guilt at not being able to protect the weak link in your Pack then don’t, I absolve you of your guilt. It was not your fault.”

Derek could barely believe what he was hearing, except this was Stiles and while Stiles was a bright kid quick to connect the dots even when the bigger picture seemed to be ridiculous when it came to his own emotions and self image he was unfortunately often blind. “You are wrong, Stiles, on so many levels. You aren’t the weak link in my Pack, you’re the thing that keeps us from going rabid, from losing our humanity and forgetting that we are part human as much, if not more, than part wolf. I’m not sticking around because I feel guilty, although yes I should have protected you better, I stay because despite the fact that before you I never imagined falling for another male, let alone a mouthy ballsy kid with a buzz cut and a dad who tried to arrest me on several occasions, I love you. I love you Genim, so get it through your thick stubborn ass skull that I’m not going to leave just because you don’t think you can give me what I need. Firstly, I need you, that’s all. Secondly, you could give us both a gift if you let yourself, but that’s a battle you need to fight within yourself, not with me. Understand?”

“You called me Genim. You called me Genim and said you loved me,” Stiles breathed, shock had emptied his eyes of the pain and hurt that had been filling them before. Shock, and hope. “Could you say it again? Just so I’m sure?” He asked.

Derek glared suspiciously. “Shut up and come here,” he growled and pulled Stiles towards him in a fierce hug that said it better than his words ever would. Still, he knew that Stiles was a vocal person and would appreciate how hard it had been for Derek to vocalise how he felt. 

“All better now?” Derek asked after a long silence.

Stiles pressed his ear to Derek’s chest, comforted by the werewolf’s warmth and the slow steady beat on his heart. “Getting there,” he whispered.

**Author's Note:**

> (Snipet of the song)
> 
> I've always been a dreamer  
> I've had my head among the clouds  
> Now that I'm coming down  
> Won't you be my solid ground?
> 
> .... yeah, basically Derek is Stiles' solid ground. Deep, I know (LOL).


End file.
